Zorra-Now-Fall 2025-WEB

TOWNSHIP DEPARTMENT INFORMATION TOWNSHIP DEPARTMENT INFORMATION 20 Zorra Now | Fall 2025 Zorra Now | Fall 2025 21 It was just over three years ago – in August 2022 during the grand opening of the splash pad at Embro Memorial Park – that Crystal Finch was first presented with the idea of serving on Zorra Township Council. Now, with about a year to go before the next municipal election, she’s hoping to encourage others in the community to also consider running for office. Interviewed recently, Finch admitted she faced challenges after unseating the incumbent Ward 4 councillor in the 2022 election. Indeed, those challenges largely came in the areas she highlighted – time commitment; balancing motherhood and employment with Council responsibilities – when she was approached by Mayor Marcus Ryan and Ward 2 councillor Katie Grigg during the splash pad grand opening. Finch was instrumental in advocating for the installation of the Embro splash pad. Having operated a home-based daycare when her kids were younger, she knew the value such a facility could bring to the village. She had served on the Home and School committee at Zorra Highland Public School as well as volunteering at her church and the Embro and Zorra Agricultural Society. But gathering together an informal organization to lobby Council for the splash pad was her first interaction with municipal government. “At the grand opening, Katie and Marcus kind of pulled me aside and told me they thought I would be a good person to have on Council,” she recalled. “And I told them I have no idea about anything that happens at Council.” Her daughter was 14 at the time and two sons were 11 and six. “I’m not somebody who is always wanting to venture out into something new,” she explained. But Ryan and Grigg were sincere in their inquiry so she decided she better give it some thought. By then, Finch had rejoined the workforce at a long-term care facility in Tavistock. Her biggest question for the two members of First-termcouncillor encourages others to consider entering a race Next municipal election is in November 2026 By Stew Slater Council was about time commitment. “Do I have time for this? I think that’s what scared me the most.” After being elected, she said, it took basically the entire first year to get fully accustomed to the ebb and flow of meetings and responsibilities as well understanding the nuances of the information that is made available to councillors. That year also proved that, as predicted, her biggest challenge was time management. Zorra Township Council has morning meetings on the first Wednesday of the month and evening meetings on the third Wednesday of the month. Finch works every other weekend at the long-term care facility and the councillors typically get their information packages on the Friday before the Wednesday meetings. She prefers to use the weekend to look over those packages and plans to spend a good portion of Tuesday before the meeting at the Township office finding out more if she needs to. But with her work schedule, she sometimes has to juggle those schedules. After only a few morning meetings following her election, it was clear that the 9 a.m. start time was difficult for both herself and Ward 1 Councillor Kevin Stewart. Both young parents needed to first get their kids on the school bus before rushing to the meeting. Finch brought forward a motion to have the meeting start times moved from 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Receiving support for that motion was a confidence booster for the rookie councillor. Still, she says it’s not surprising that statistics from across the country indicate an under-representation of women – and especially young women – in municipal politics. Research conducted in 2023 at the University of Calgary on behalf of Federation of Canadian Municipalities showed that women represent 31 per cent of all municipal elected representatives in Canada, with the number slightly lower in Ontario at just over 30 per cent. “As young mothers, we have a lot on our plates. And I don’t necessarily want to generalize but I think, if you’re an older man, you would often have more time to put into (the responsibilities of a municipal councillor).” “As a mom, I want to be able to give the majority of my time to my kids.” There’s also a balance that needs to be addressed in terms of receiving and responding to phone calls and emails from residents. She tells the story of being on vacation and a person contacting her by cellphone repeatedly and her husband finally telling her she needed to stop answering the phone. “Although that hasn’t been too much of a problem. The residents, for the most part, have been pretty understanding,” Finch said. She credits Township staff with being able to handle most of the questions that come up, and being willing to take calls directed their way by councillors. “A lot of young people like me think they don’t have the time. But I found you’re able to make that time once you make the commitment. And once you know you have support from your family and friends.” Have there been instances when residents have overstepped boundaries? Finch carefully considers her response. “That definitely has been a challenge.” In 2023, “I remember crying for half the night” after she was confronted by more than one person about her support of an initiative to bring a geared-to-income housing development to Embro. She supported the idea because she thought it could benefit various segments of the population, including retiring farm parents who want to move off the farm and allow the next generation to take over, but don’t necessarily want to sell the farm at full market value. So they need affordable options. She also saw it helping new parents moving back to their home community to raise their family – something she and her husband experienced. They bought their first home in Woodstock because they couldn’t afford anything in Embro. And when they did eventually purchase something here, it was a challenge financially. “I felt like I was just trying to hit those gaps that we have in this community.” Along with Ryan, she hosted a public meeting about the proposal at the community centre. It was packed, with many residents opposed and some of them strongly expressing their displeasure. “There was a lot of anger and upset from the residents,” Finch recalled. A University of Calgary study published in 2025 stated that “harassment in local politics is increasingly becoming the stated reason that local politicians resign early or choose not to seek re-election.” A survey of 1,633 municipal representatives across Canada revealed 63 per cent “indicated they had experienced some form of harassment,” with 12 per cent perceiving the harassment was targeted based on gender and 4.4 per cent perceiving it was targeted based on race. (Seventy-five per cent of those who experienced harassment did not have a perception that it was directed towards a particular identity.) Finch says her experiences during and after that public meeting didn’t leave her with the impression that harassment of politicians is a ...continued